Ornithologists Express Concern Over Decline In Migratory Water Birds At Manipur’s Loktak Lake

Although the final census report is still pending, the Indian Bird Conservation Network anticipates the total bird count to be less than 12,000, with a significant drop of around 10 species.

Migratory birds at Loktak Lake in Manipur’s Bishnupur district. ( Image Source :Special Arrangement )

The ornithologists conducting a head count of migratory water birds at the famous Loktak Lake, the largest freshwater lake in South Asia, situated in Manipur’s Bishnupur district, have expressed disappointment over spotting very few winged guests this season.

The census, conducted by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), an organisation engaged in conservation and biodiversity research, and supported by Manipur’s Environment and Climate Change Department in association with the Loktak Development Authority (LDA), covered the Loktak Lake and the Keibul Lampao National Park (KLNP) in the state’s same district on Saturday. KLNP, the largest floating park in the world, and home to the rare and endangered brow-antlered deer, locally known as ‘Sangai,’ served as the focal point of the head count, the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Manipur, stated in a press release.

“We carried out the census exercise at a total of 50 spots across the Loktak Lake and KLNP and each spot was manned by four ornithologists using telephoto cameras and binoculars. Students and researchers also supported the headcount,” said RK Birjit Singh, State Coordinator of the Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN), a network working for the conservation of birds and nature.

Although the final census report is still pending, Singh anticipates the total bird count to be less than 12,000, with a significant drop by around 10 species. This decline is disheartening as compared to the past figures, where over 20,000 birds from more than 20 species were spotted, and in some years, even over 30,000 birds were witnessed. However, Singh noted that all resident waterfowl species, including the lesser whistling ducks, coot and pheasant tail jacana, were still spotted, the DIPR release stated.

During the census, certain migratory bird species like the coot, ferruginous pochard and gadwall were spotted, but the Baer’s pochards from Mongolia, which were seen in the previous years at KLNP, were notably absent. Singh attributed the dwindling figures of migratory water birds at Loktak Lake to factors such as the construction of private fish farms along the lake shores disturbing shoreline birds, an increase in the number of fishermen, poaching and the use of light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs by fishermen at night, it added.

The DIPR release further stated that before the census, a three-day workshop, “Itinerary of the Water Bird Motivation Camp-2024,” was organised on January 17 at the Mangolnganbi College in Bishnupur district.